Teacher blackmailed partner, court told

A Gold Coast teacher repeatedly threatened to reveal a colleague at a Catholic school had had an abortion if she wouldn't continue having sex with him, a court has heard.

The man is standing trial at the Southport District Court on three counts of rape after allegedly forcing himself on the woman on three occasions between December 2014 and February 2015.

The man pleaded not guilty to all charges on the opening day of the trial on Monday.

The court heard the pair had started a relationship in April 2013, shortly after which the woman became concerned about the man's controlling behaviour.

Crown prosecutor Michael Connelly said the man began tracking the woman's menstrual cycle to determine when the couple should have sex to increase the chance of the woman falling pregnant.

When the woman, who has two children from a previous relationship, did become pregnant in August 2013 she decided she did not want to have the child and arranged to have an abortion in South Australia.

Mr Connelly told the court the man then threatened to send an email to the staff and parents of pupils at the Catholic school where they both worked, saying she'd had an abortion.

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The woman cancelled the appointment but would eventually go through with an abortion in South Australia in December that year.

From there, Mr Connelly said the man repeatedly threatened to expose the woman and release explicit videos and photos of the pair if she wouldn't keep having sex with him and attempt to fall pregnant again.

The court heard that in December 2014 and February 2015, the man allegedly raped the woman on three occasions.

Mr Connelly said the man also issued the woman an ultimatum to either marry him, become "friends with benefits" or a third option he described as "worse than the worst thing you can imagine".

"He effectively blackmailed her into submission," Mr Connelly said.

"She told him in no uncertain terms that he was trying to destroy her."

The woman gave evidence in closed court on Monday and the trial continues on Tuesday.